Food products such as meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetables are typically stored and sold in a supporting tray that is overwrapped by a transparent plastic film, enabling visual inspection of the food products. These food products generally produce an exudate (i.e., juices), which can be a source for the growth of microbial agents. The prevention of microbial agent growth improves food safety as a well as prolongs the freshness of the food product.
In general, in order to avoid the uncontrolled accumulation of exuded fluids from the food products, an absorbent pad is placed in the supporting tray. For example, the simplest type of absorbent pad for absorbing food product fluids is composed of a bundle of sheets of absorbent paper with or without a sheet of plastic film below the bundle. Another sheet of plastic film may also be placed over the bundle of paper sheets. One or both of the sheets of plastic film typically are perforated or are otherwise fluid pervious. A disadvantage of absorbent pads is that the pads have a low absorbency and do not retain moisture under pressure. In addition these types of pads tend to break up in use so that paper and the contents of the pad may adhere to the food and leakage may occur from the packages.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a food preservation composition having improved absorbency properties. Additionally, the food preservation composition should prevent or reduce the growth of microbial agents produced by food products. It would be desirable to prevent or reduce the growth of microbial agents not only in the exudate produced by the food product but also on the surface of the food product. This will ultimately prolong the shelf life of the food product. Finally, the food preservation composition should be easy to handle so that it can be incorporated into a variety of food storage articles. The food preservation compositions described herein satisfy these needs.